1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to hose or conduit cradles and supports and more particularly, to a pivoting and telescoping hose or conduit support which is primarily designed for supporting drain hoses extending from the holding tanks of recreational vehicles. One of the problems often encountered by owners of recreational vehicles in the course of draining holding tanks is the uneven terrain, making deployment of the drain hose, once attached to the holding tank of a recreational vehicle, difficult to extend into the proper drainage area. For example, if an area or length of high ground extends between the point of drainage and the end of the drain hose, flowage from the holding tank is frequently terminated or slowed because of the unevenness of the terrain.
Recreational vehicles, including motor homes, house trailers, campers, and like vehicles, are conventionally equipped with toilet, shower, sink, lavatory and other facilities, from which waste water and other material must be periodically discharged. This discharge is usually connected to a storage or holding tank which is periodically emptied at trailer parks and other locations, as deemed necessary. In order to facilitate the continuous gravity drainage of the holding tank through a drain hose, the hose is ideally laid out on at least level, and preferably inclined, terrain with no intermediate hills or rises to impede the drainage of the water from the holding tank.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various devices have been designed to support drainage hoses, and particularly hoses designed to drain the holding or storage tank of recreational vehicles. Typical of these devices is the "Trestle For A Flexible Hose", detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,819,137, dated Jun. 25, 1974. The device includes a hose support trestle having a ladder with pivotal rungs, thus enabling the ladder to collapse by moving the pole portions of the ladder together. An adjusting mechanism is provided for elevating the ladder at one or both ends. The whole assembly is adapted to be stored when not in use within the flexible hose which the device supports. U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,571, dated Oct. 2, 1979, to William G. Duggan, details "Hose Cradles" which include a trough, to each end of which a pair of legs is pivotally connected in a manner such that the legs may be swung from the vertical position to the outwardly-swung, horizontal positions or to inwardly-swung, overlapping positions. A "Flexible Sewer Line Support" is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,711, dated Mar. 25, 1980, to Leroy Winton. The structure includes a series of interconnected troughs provided with fastening devices for attaching individual trough lengths and one or more stands may be attached to the troughs for support purposes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,758, dated Sep. 13, 1983, to Howard N. M. Burt, details a "Waste Pipe Support Apparatus". The apparatus includes two nested, trough-type, semi-cylindrical tubular members which telescope or slide relative to each other. The device is provided with a bail-type support leg structure which elevates one end of the apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 4,406,434, dated Sep. 27, 1983, to R. C. Schneckloth, details a "Recreational Vehicle Drain Support". The drain support includes a trough made of rigid sections, wherein pairs of supporting members are tied together by a resilient mechanism to provide an upper diverging clamping portion and a lower pair of diverging legs. The upper clamping portion securely fastens legs to the trough. A "Foldable Drain Hose Support" is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,570, dated Dec. 29, 1987, to David Mashuda. The device includes a trestle-like, flexible drain conduit formed of four or more stretcher sections connected end-to-end by hinge sections. The stretcher sections each include a pair of angled members with upright flanges spaced-apart at each end by a crosswise hinge member. The foldable trestle may be extended to support a drain hose or it may be collapsible by virtue of the folding relationship at the hinges, for storage purposes. U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,702, dated Jul. 23, 1991, to Daniel S. Robbins, details a "Hose Support For Waste Disposal Systems". The apparatus includes a trough-like support which may be provided in sections, supported by vertical members removably clamped to bottom edge portions of the support sections, in an inclined position from the outlet to the inlet. The vertical members are designed with horizontal, U-shaped clamping portions positioned with the end edges of the trough-like support clamped between the legs of the U. U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,679, dated Nov. 26, 1991, to Charles H. Courtney, details a "Flexible Waste Hose Support For Recreational Vehicles". The hose support includes a telescoping, trough-like support, one end of which is fitted with a ring for attaching to a bracket in the recreational vehicle fender well and the other end extending outwardly to support the hose for drainage purposes.
It is an object of this invention to provide a pivoting and telescoping or slidably-disposed hose or conduit support which includes a pair of channel-shaped, pivoting leg portions of corresponding cross-section, that may be deployed in supporting configuration to support a hose or conduit, or in folded configuration to facilitate storage of the hose support.
Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved pivoting and telescoping hose support which is characterized by a pair of telescoping or slidably engaged, trough-like segments, the receiving support segment of which has longitudinal edge rails for engagement by the longitudinal edges of the telescoping or entering support segment, and the segments each receiving a pivoting leg shaped substantially in the cross-sectional configuration of the telescoping segment. The legs are pivoted downwardly to support the segments when the support is in extended, functional configuration and upwardly in nested configuration against the support segments, respectively, when the support is in telescoped, stored configuration.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a pivoting leg and slidably-engaging segment hose support for supporting the drainage hose of a recreation vehicle, which hose support includes a pair of channeled-shaped trough members, one of which slidably engages in the other and both of which are fitted with pivotally-mounted leg portions, each leg portion having a cross-section substantially the same as the telescoping support member, to facilitate downward deployment of the legs when the support members are positioned in functional, extended configuration to support a hose or conduit, and pivoting of the legs against the telescoped support members, respectively, in nested configuration, for storage.